Sugar sifter spoon. George Walker I, Chester. 1794-95. 1988.53
Silver is one of those materials that can be sublime in its simplicity, relying on the brilliance of the fabric, the purity of shape to create beauty and elegance in functional items. It can also be elaborately ornate, relying on layers of opulent, showy adornment for its impact and to make its ostentatiously unsubtle point. The Grosvenor Museum in Chester displays both extremes and everything in between, in its Ridgway Silver Gallery. The Ridgway Gallery is dedicated both to items of silver that were made in Chester and those that were purchased elsewhere, mainly in London, for use in Chester.
Chester had a long tradition of silver-working at least from the 13th century onwards. The Chester Goldsmiths Co., registered just before the Dissolution in 1531, were the key authority for the city goldsmiths at that time, laying down standards and rules for production, assaying, and marking objects. Assaying is a quality control method by which the content of silver in an item is determined, and confirms its purity, integrity, validity, which in turn offered guarantees of value for purchasers. In the 17th century there was a decline in production by Chester goldsmiths as London grew to prominence. This was aggravated by the Civil War which raged around Chester’s city walls.
In spite of some very rocky years, the 18th century marked an upturn in the fortune of Chester silver production, described by Peter Boughton as its heyday. Two family dynasties, the Richardsons and Lowes, became synonymous with locally produced silver. After 1884 Chester’s Goss Street Assay Office was one of only four in Britain that was still active. This was only closed in 1962, by an Act of Parliament.
Silver has always been a prestige item, intended for conspicuous display. Even the most modest items would have been unaffordable for most of Chester’s population, so the market for silver was a clear indication of the prosperity of the city’s elite. Wealthy individuals and families, as well as the city corporations, institutions and establishments were all affluent consumers of Chester silver, purchasing it to demonstrate both their personal status and the prestige of local enterprises.
The Grosvenor Museum. Source: Geograph (1335188)
The Grosvenor Museum was founded in 1885-6 but it was not until the 1950s that it received the first pieces that formed its earliest display of silver. In 1951 the Trustees of Chester Municipal Charities placed their collection of silver on long term loan. The following year the museum began to acquire items of its own. The earliest goldsmith represented in the Museum’s collection is William Mutton in the 16th century. The first exhibition of Chester silver was held to celebrate the Festival of Britain in 1951, which was held at the County Hall. The present gallery was opened in 1992 by the Prince of Wales. It was named after Canon Maurice Ridgway, the Vicar of Bowdon, who contributed a major work to the study of Chester silver with his 1968 Chester Goldsmiths from Early Times to 1726. In 2000, the museum published Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum.
Interestingly, most of the more elegant and arguably the most aesthetically rewarding examples in the museum’s collection were earlier and were made in Chester, whilst the more ostentatious and elaborate pieces, including racing cups and church plate, were made in London and elsewhere, and purchased by local institutions.
Silver pap boat by George Walker I of Chester, dating to 1771-2. My photo. Catalogue number 39, p.72-74
A stunning piece that helps to demonstrate the skills that go into the less elaborate pieces is the small pap boat made in Chester by George Walker I, dating to 1771-2. It is made of sterling silver and is 12.3cm long. Pap, according to Peter Boughton, is a “mix of stale white breadcrumbs or flower, cooked to a sloppy mush in water, with the possible addition of a little wine, beer, beef-stock or milk” and was fed to infants as young as three months to aid with weaning them onto solids. It sounds truly appalling. It was also fed to invalids, poor things. By holding the pap cup in the palm of the hand, it was easy to place the feeding end into the mouth and, by tipping it gently, much easier to control delivery of the content than using a handled jug. Fifteen other Chester pap boats are known. Due to the lack of fussy decoration, the shape of the jug can be admired without distraction, and the absence of anywhere to hide in the crafting of the object allows the goldsmith’s mastery of the art to be appreciated.
Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum. Chester. Phillimore., 2000. The cover image is a silver-covered cup made for the Chester races by Peter and William Bateman of London 1813-4, (no.96 in the Catalogue)
Of the many elaborate and ornate pieces in the Ridgway Gallery is the silver-gilt cup, with a cover, made for the Chester races by Peter and William Bateman of London 1813-4, (no.96 in the Catalogue). It represents an item that was purchased for use in Chester rather than made by one of the local goldsmiths. Horse racing on Chester’s Roodee has been taking place since the early 16th century, with the earliest known painting of racing on the Roodee dating to the earlier 18th century, by Peter Tillemans. Even today competition winners are awarded elaborate trophies or cups, often highly ornate, usually in silver, sometimes gilded, recognizing a significant sporting achievement with a substantial and expensive display of splendour. This was the object chosen for the cover of Peter Boughton’s Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum, published in 2000. Its Neoclassical design sits somewhere between the elegant simplicity of the unadorned items and the more ornamented items that are virtually encrusted with decorative emblems and motifs. It was made for the second Earl Grosvenor, who paid £70.00 for it, and on the opposite side from “Chester Races 1814,” shown on the catalogue cover, shows his heraldic device. As well as emulating a Classical shape, it also makes use of Classical motifs. The Bateman family of London had a long history of providing racing cups for the Chester races, and this is stylistically very similar to other trophies that they produced for Chester.
Peter Tillemans: Chester and the Roodee c.1710–1734, showing a horse race in action. Grosvenor Museum, via ArtWork.org
1755-6 (catalogue no.27) by Richard Richardson II, Chester
Another twin-handled ornate cup is the St Martin drinking cup 1755-6 (catalogue no.27) by Richard Richardson II, Chester. It is a rather bizarre mixture of decorative concepts. It’s key theme is the cast figure of St Martin of Tours on horseback, mounted on the lid. Boughton comments that the use of cast figures is rare, and was confined to particularly elaborate vessels. Although St Martin (c.316/336 – 397) became the third Bishop of Tours, be was born in Hungary, and served in the Roman cavalry in Gaul (modern France). He performed a number of miracles and acts of charity. The scene on the lid shows one of his best known charitable acts, similar in tone to the Good Samaritan, where he uses his sword (the top half missing on this piece) to cut his cloak in half to give to a freezing beggar dressed only in rags. As he slept that night, St Martin dreamed that Christ appeared before him wearing that section of the cloak that he had donated to the beggar. St Martin left the army to become a follower of Hilary, the Bishop of Poitiers in southern France, and went on to found at least one monastery.
The St Martin’s Cup, showing the other side from the one above. Source: Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum, Chester. By Peter Boughton, p. 59, catalogue number 27
The main body of the vessel is a good example of fine chasing (the working of the silver to produce relief decoration). Boughton says that the chasing is the equal of examples found in contemporary London: “employing a wide range of textures from very find matting on an even ground to vigorous punching over an irregular embossed surface.” The style of the cup is derived from rococo designs but the body decoration is heavily influenced by Chinese porcelain and ornament, with obviously oriental themes combined with contemporary emblems from the decorative arts in the bottom half of the cup around the entire body of the vessel. On one side a lady sits flanked by two cherry blossom trees and a tall slender pyramid or obelisk, with flowers in her lap, shown above; on the other, a figure sits with fishing rod in one hand, a sprig of cherry blossom in the other, and an urn set back to the rear right. Above these scenes in the upper register are two ornamental cartouches, designed to house crests, of which one is empty and the other has an obviously later lion’s head crest, probably dating to the 19th century, shown on the above photograph. The only parts of the cup that have not received some form of decoration are the two handles, which are beautifully shaped but plain, apart from thumb rests and the sinuous, tapering “ducks-head” ends. The lid shows a Chinese style pavilion on one side, and another tall slender pyramid or obelisk on the other. There is no connection between St Martin and east Asia, so the themes are presumably purely decorative. The overall impact is remarkable, demonstrating the artist’s skill and the purchaser’s ambitions to own a unique, highly noticeable item that would surely draw the attention and comment of visitors. Its style and themes make it unique in Chester. Interestingly, it is thought that although is has the mark of Richard Richardson II on the base, it may have been purchased in London and the marked when it arrived in Chester.
Coconut standing cup made by George Lowe I, dating to c.1807-17. My photo. Catalogue no.59, p.94-96
One of the most curious of the objects in the gallery is a remarkable glossy black goblet-style cup with a silver rim and a silver stem and base. The 11cm tall black “standing cup” is perhaps one of the more surprising objects in the Ridgway Silver Gallery in Chester’s Grosvenor Museum. The glossy section of the cup, looking like opaque black glass, is actually half a coconut. It relies for its visual impact not on ornate decoration, but on the quality and texture of its materials, the high polish, and its satisfyingly rounded profile. It was made by George Lowe I, whose mark appears on the base, and dates to c.1807-17. Lowe originally had a business on Watergate Street and in 1803 moved to new premises in Bridge Street. The Lowes passed the trade from father to son over six generations. According to Peter Boughton’s catalogue (pages 94-6), the coconut was fastened to the stem with a single brass screw and washer. As well as being decorative, the silver rim protects the brittle top of the coconut. There is a letter “B” engraved on the opposite side of the rim, but it is not known today what this originally signified.
The Lowe family shop was on Bridge Street Row East, the second from the right in this 1820 print by George Bateman. Photograph on one of the interpretation boards in the Ridgway Gallery
Using coconuts to make novelty drinking vessels was not uncommon. Once the fibres were removed from the exterior, they could be scraped to a smooth surface and then polished to provide the high gloss seen here. As coconut is not porous, and can be worked until very thin, it was perfect as an imaginative alternative to glass, with an unusual texture and appearance, providing an instant talking point. Although records indicate that Lowe made other coconut cups, this is the sole survivor, but one of his other examples sold for £1 5s 0d (which equates, in the National Archives Currency Converter, to around £58.00 today). Examples made by other manufacturers in Chester were recorded, with Boughton’s catalogue listing twenty four examples.
Coconut cup by Cornelis de Bye in 1598 in the Walters Museum (number 571046). Source: Wikipedia
The earliest known record of a coconut cup dates from 1259, but the earliest surviving examples date from the 15th century, when coconut was thought to have magical, supernatural properties, and due to its rareness was a prestige material that made it a good partner for silver. As shipping and trade made coconuts more accessible and prices came down, many more continued to be made. In Europe coconuts were commonly covered with ornament and scenes, much like carved wood, showing great skill, but opting for a completely different type of aesthetic preference. The extravagant example to the right is by Cornelis de Bye, dating to 1598. The inscription in Dutch, “Drunkenness is the root of all evil,” is accompanied by Old Testament scenes.
A highly ornate but diminutive item is a baby’s rattle combined with a whistle, bells and, before it was lost, a stick of coral on which the baby could chew, protruding from the socket at the base. It was placed around the baby’s neck on a ribbon, both a toy and a teething device. It was made by John Twemlow of Chester, in 1828-29. Confined mainly to the home, it is equally impressive as an example of conspicuous wealth as the above cups.
St John the Baptist Hospital badge from 1682
Finally, one of my favourite object groups in the gallery is one about which I can find out very little information: the large oval hospital badges, engraved with specific motifs and legends and often featuring skulls as reminders of human mortality. Apologies for the photographs, which are the best of several attempts at photographing several of the badges. Unfortunately there is no information about the badges in Boughton’s catalogue of the museum’s silver, because they were only loaned to the museum and are therefore not included. If you have any additional information do get in touch. Although hospital badges are very familiar from modern nursing, where they have been traditionally awarded to nursing staff for both professional achievements and for association with particular hospitals, the 17 to 18th century ones on display in the Ridgway Gallery were awarded not to nursing staff or hospital governors but to almsmen, those who lived in almshouses and other housing provided by hospitals and religious institutions, often sponsored by named benefactors. Almsmen and almswomen were awarded places in almshouses on the basis of certain stringent criteria, and were then responsible for certain duties within the almshouses. The hospital and its buildings were intentionally demolished during the Siege of Chester (1644-1646) to prevent them walls being used as cover by the Parliamentarians, following which Oliver Cromwell put its reconstruction into the hands of the newly founded Chester Corporation. In 1714 the hospital buildings were ordered to be taken down and rebuilt, creating today’s Bluecoat Building and associated structures.
St John the Baptist Hospital badge by Thomas Maddock, 1736-37
On the examples in the Ridgway Gallery, the large oval almsmen badge disks, held onto clothing by use of a wooden attachment at the rear, commemorate benefactors who provided alms via the Hospital of St John in Chester, which was located outside the Northgate. At least five of those on display from the 17th century have the name Richard Bird inscribed on them in large letters, the name of the benefactor, together with the year 1682. The 17th century ones date to 1682, whilst the one with the wooden backing also shown here was made by goldsmith Thomas Maddock (who was mayor in 1744-5) and dates to 1736-37. The badges were made during a period of great change for the hospital and its dependents.
Walking into the Ridgway Silver Gallery can be a bit overwhelming due to the sheer amount of lighting, polished silver, reflective surfaces and luxuriant red backgrounds, and it can be difficult to know where to start, but the interpretation panels and labelling are excellent, Peter Boughton’s catalogue is provided on a shelf for perusal, and there are some fascinating individual objects. From the elaborate and ornate to the elegantly minimalist there is something for everyone.
Visiting details are available on the Grosvenor Museum and Art Gallery here.
Sources:
The detailed Grosvenor Museum interpretation panels in the Ridgway Silver Gallery offer an excellent source of information.
Books and papers
Boughton, Peter 2000. Catalogue of Silver in the Grosvenor Museum. Phillimore.
Ridgway, Maurice 1968. Chester Goldsmiths from Early Times to 1726. John Sherratt & Son Ltd
Stewart-Brown, R. 1926. The Hospital of St John at Chester. The Historic Society of Lancashire and Shire, vol. 78, 1926, p.66-106
https://www.hslc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/78-6-Stewart-Brown.pdf
Websites
Great British Life
Inside the historic almshouses in Chester and Nantwich, 25th February 2025, by Joanne Goodwin
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cheshire/24884488.inside-historic-almshouses-chester-nantwich/
Sterling silver cup by Thomas Robinson, 1690-92, Boughton catalogue number 5. The base is chased with alternate alternate spiral fluting and gadrooning, with two ornate handles, but the upper part of the body is plain and shows off the reflective surface of the vessel. Cups like this were used for caudle, a spiced mixture of alcohol (wine, ale or brandy) and gruel. The balance between un-ornamented surface and the gently sweeping decorative features has particular elegance.
Based in Churton 
